Final salute to a popular cop

Aamer Madhani, Tribune staff reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

More than 300 family members, friends and police officers crammed into St. Paul United Church of Christ in Barrington on Wednesday to say farewell to a popular police officer who died after he had a heart attack while struggling with a suspect.

In a stirring memorial service at the church he had attended since he was a youngster, Barrington-Inverness Officer Steven Graham, 53, was remembered as a tough cop who always gave people a fair shake and as a selfless parent comfortable with the role of father.

"He was like a wall of granite, but he was fair," his daughter Heather said in a eulogy.

Graham died Sunday when he had a fatal heart attack while struggling with a suspect during an arrest, authorities said.

He was attempting to arrest William Bily, 56, of Inverness after Bily allegedly disrupted communication by transmitting over the Barrington-Inverness police radio channel. On at least two other occasions, police had gone to Bily's home to confront him about disrupting police communications, authorities said.

The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled that the death was a homicide because Graham's cardiac arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, probably was triggered by the scuffle with Bily.

Bily was held for two days by police before being charged Tuesday with misdemeanor counts of resisting a peace officer and interference with emergency communications, police said.

Bily posted bail late Tuesday and is to appear in Cook County Circuit Court in Rolling Meadows on Friday. He declined to comment Wednesday.

Police Chief Jeff Lawler and a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney refused to say whether additional charges are being considered.

"I don't think it is an appropriate day to talk about that," Lawler said after the funeral. "It is extraordinarily difficult whenever you lose an officer, but is even more tragic when they die in the line of duty like this."

During the service, Heather Graham told her father's colleagues about her dad, a man who she said would give you the shirt off his back if you were cold and a shoulder to cry on when you were hurt.

The day before he died, she said, Graham surprised her with a flower pot she had admired this summer when she visited her parents in Wisconsin while they were vacationing. She said he was equally thoughtful in picking out a gift for his younger daughter, Laura, a dolphin necklace, the symbol of her sorority.

"He understood the little details," said the Rev. Robert Kasper, who officiated at the funeral.

Graham, who worked for the Police Department for 29 years, was the son of the late state Sen. John Graham and had lived in Barrington all his life. In addition to his daughters, he is survived by his wife, Karen, and his sister, Vickie Vycital.

Traffic along Main Street in downtown Barrington was stopped for several minutes Wednesday as the Chicago Police Emerald Society bagpipers played. Dozens of police officers, from places as far away as Markham and Madison, Wis., stood saluting Graham's casket as it was carried out of the church. Graham's colleagues said the ceremony was a fitting tribute for a man who was beloved in the department and the village.

"When anybody in the department had issues, he was the guy we would go to for direction," Officer Michael Hansen said. "This was the type of ceremony he deserved."